PHILADELPHIA >> When building Clayton Kershaw’s case for the 2014 National League Most Valuable Player award, observers had to reach back 46 years to find any precedent. That’s how long it had been since an NL pitcher claimed the award before Kershaw.

In that regard Kershaw’s case was, well, a reach.

One intriguing number: Kershaw was so good at keeping hitters off base that he actually got on base more often than opposing hitters — 23.5 percent of the time for Kershaw compared to 23.1 for his opponents. His once-in-a-generation pitching statistics spoke for themselves, and Kershaw won the award handily.

At this rate, building Zack Greinke’s MVP case might be easier by comparison.

Even after allowing six earned runs in the Dodgers’ 10-8 win Thursday over the Philadelphia Phillies, Greinke (11-2) has a lower earned-run average than Kershaw posted last year, 1.71 to 1.77.

“He’ll get it down back to 1.3 after a couple starts,” Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal said.

There are certainly other statistics that should factor into the equation, but here’s one worth keeping an eye on: Greinke is reaching base 23.1 percent of the time, compared to 23.4 percent for opponents.

Greinke’s hitting ability bore mention on a day when he became the first Dodgers pitcher to go 3 for 3 with a home run since 1923. His 395-foot solo shot off Phillies starter David Buchanan (2-6) was his first since September of last year, and the fifth of his career.

The home run gave the Dodgers a 7-5 lead in the third inning, a big run on the heels of a disastrous start.

Two-out RBI hits by Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford in the first inning spotted Greinke a 3-0 lead before he threw a pitch.

But Greinke gave the lead right back by allowing five runs, including three on a home run by Domonic Brown. It was the most runs Greinke had allowed in an inning this season — or in any of his first 21 starts.

“Just a lot of not-good stuff,” he said. “The home run (by Brown) allowed me to reset. Guys on base, you have to make really good pitches. After the homer I reset things. That helped.”

Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run home run in the second inning to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. After Greinke’s homer in the third, the offensive onslaught slowed down. A two-run double by Howie Kendrick in the sixth inning, followed by a Yasmani Grandal sacrifice fly, gave the Dodgers three insurance runs.

Greinke managed to last six innings and throw 111 pitches before turning the game over to the bullpen.

“It could have been” a disaster, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said, “but Zack’s one of those guys who’s going to keep pitching and not give in.”

The Phillies tacked on a pair of runs in the ninth inning against the Dodger bullpen, both charged to Joel Peralta, before Kenley Jansen recorded the final two outs on one swing of the bat.

Brown stroked a one-out line drive into Gonzalez’s glove with runners on first and third base, and Gonzalez touched first base for a double play. Jansen was credited with his 21st save.

Kendrick, Gonzalez and Ethier each had two of the Dodgers’ 15 hits. After leaving 12 runners on base in each of the first two games of the series, the Dodgers went 5 for 10 with runners in scoring position Thursday, stranding only six runners.

The Dodgers took two of the three games from the Phillies, temporarily pushing their lead in the National League West to 2 1/2 games.

Without Greinke, who knows where the Dodgers would be.

“He’s obviously been really, really good,” Mattingly said. “He’s having a season similar to Clayton’s last year, where pretty much every time out he’s just been dominant. You count on him for 7 to 8 innings. He’s been giving you that. He’s not giving up runs. It’s been similar.”